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DeGette: Latest Trumpcare Version is Even Worse, Still Guts Medicaid and Would Prompt Higher Costs for Many

Jul 13, 2017

Press Release

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) called the Senate’s latest iteration of Trumpcare even more cruel than the version that the Senate abandoned last month.

“The tweaks made to the bill in the past two weeks won’t address the damage it would do to millions of Americans who would lose health care or be forced to pay more for it,” DeGette said. “Still included are substantial and heartless cuts to Medicaid, significantly higher costs for working families and seniors, and provisions that gut protections for those with pre-existing conditions.

“The proposal by Senator Ted Cruz would cause a proliferation of skimpy, junk insurance plans while making more robust coverage completely unaffordable for millions of people with pre-existing conditions or other health risks. Some opponents of the Affordable Care Act have wrongly insinuated that it is in a ‘death spiral,’ but implementing the Cruz plan would actually make that happen by creating separate markets for the well and the unwell; the latter market would collapse.

“No amount of repair to this deeply flawed bill will lead to a product that truly addresses ongoing issues in our health care system. Rather than trying to jam it through unilaterally as was done with the House version of Trumpcare in late May, Republicans should work with Democrats on strengthening America’s health care system. There are reasonable, effective solutions that can secure bipartisan support and help us fulfill the duties that we, as elected officials, have to all Americans.”